good news

Word on the street is that the days of the Relief Society "Good News Minute" are coming to an end, by direction of the General Relief Society Board. We don't have such a Minute in our ward here, so I had almost forgotten about it, but they have certainly done this in every other ward where I've lived in the last several years. If you're unfamiliar with the Minute, it occurs at the beginning of the weekly Relief Society meeting in many wards. The person conducting will make the week's announcements and then say something like, "Now we'll have our Good News Minute. Does anyone have good news to share?"

Of course it was meant to build camaradarie and sisterhood in the R.S. On many Sundays I thought it was a nice way to allow people in the ward to uplift and support each other. But I admit that I sometimes found myself shaking my head through the whole Minute. In my Young Single People wards it could easily become the "I'm Engaged!" Minute. In my Young Married People wards it was often the "I'm Pregnant!" Minute. In Family Wards it served as a prime opportunity for people to brag to their neighbors about their above-average children. And scattered throughout were moments of pure awkwardness, wherein a dear sister would say something like this: "I think Suzy has some good news, but I don't know if she'll volunteer to tell us!" (Meanwhile Suzy's face turns bright purple as everyone turns to look at her and begins to speculate about what her good news could possibly be. The awkward factor increases significantly as people realize Suzy has no desire to share her Good News with a large group of people.) Also unavoidable were the Fill Up Time If Nobody Has Any Real News comments, such as "I got a great deal on bell peppers at Smith's yesterday!"

Well, if it is indeed true that the Minute is no more (which I haven't confirmed - this is based solely on gossip), then I say, good-bye, Good News Minute. You had your high points. But in the end, I imagine we'll be better off just getting on with the lesson.